XRP to the Moon? 🚀 Ethereum Trembles! 😱

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Ah, XRP, that shimmering mirage in the crypto desert, is poised, according to Standard Chartered, to balloon by a ludicrous 500% by 2028. One imagines them huddled in their mahogany-clad offices, sipping lukewarm tea, as ETF approvals and a tokenization frenzy propel this digital trinket past the once-mighty Ethereum. A spectacle, indeed! 🧐

Standard Chartered, with the solemnity of a mortician discussing funeral arrangements, Predicts XRP Surge to $12.50 by 2028 on ETF Hopes and Tokenization Boom. One shudders at the audacity of such pronouncements. 🙄

Standard Chartered, in a burst of what can only be described as either profound insight or utter madness, has officially initiated coverage on XRP. Yes, you heard correctly. They are forecasting a mega rally for this crypto bauble, driven, they claim, by its pivotal role in global payments and tokenization. Geoffrey Kendrick, a name as mellifluous as a forgotten sonnet, the bank’s global head of digital assets research, projected, with the certainty of a fortune teller reading tea leaves, that XRP could surge, like a startled cat, around 500% to reach $12.50 by the close of 2028. A veritable financial fairytale! 🧚‍♂️ As part of this grand pronouncement, Kendrick also anticipates, with a flourish, that XRP’s market capitalization will surpass that of Ethereum within the same timeframe. He stated, with the gravitas of a judge sentencing a particularly annoying fly:

By the end of 2028 we see XRP’s market cap overtaking Ethereum’s. That will make XRP the second largest (non-stablecoin) digital asset at that time. One can almost hear the champagne corks popping in the XRP headquarters. 🥂

The global bank’s report, with the meticulous detail of a lepidopterist pinning butterflies, also addressed regulatory momentum and its impact on XRP. He expects the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve an XRP spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the third quarter of 2025, which he estimates could unlock between $4 billion and $8 billion in inflows during its first year. One can almost see the dollar signs dancing in his eyes. 💰

“The ‘tariff mess’ will be over soon,” he explained, with the confidence of a seasoned politician dodging a scandal, adding that, “Bitcoin’s solid performance during the noise tells us a leg higher for the asset class will follow.” Kendrick, in a move worthy of a seasoned detective, identified a combination of factors underpinning XRP’s projected rise, including “a mix of regulatory developments, institutional adoption and expanding use cases.” He pointed to a statement from Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse about the SEC dropping its appeal in the XRP case and linked that decision to President Donald Trump’s election. A twist worthy of a dime-store novel! 📖

Describing XRP’s utility, the global head of digital assets research stated, with a hint of theatrical flair:

XRP’s blockchain, the XRP Ledger [XRPL], is a payments chain and may become a tokenization chain. The possibilities, as they say, are endless. Or at least, until the next shiny crypto object catches our collective eye. ✨

He drew a comparison to Stellar’s infrastructure and added that Stellar is currently the second-largest player in the tokenization market. A revelation, indeed! 🤯

The Standard Chartered analyst anticipates XRP to reach $5.50 by the end of 2025, then increase to $8.00 in 2026, and finally hit $12.50 by 2028, staying at that level through 2029. This projection assumes a bitcoin price of $500,000 by 2028 and implies that XRP will sustain its value growth even in a higher inflation environment: “6% for XRP vs. 0.8% for BTC.” Despite XRP’s relatively small developer base and low-fee model, Kendrick believes these hurdles will be “offset by the positive drivers mentioned above.” One hopes he’s right, for the sake of all those holding their breath. 😮‍💨

XRP is entering a transformative phase in the U.S. financial landscape as it bridges into institutional markets via multiple developments. A 2x leveraged ETF tied to XRP futures began trading on NYSE Arca this week, offering amplified daily exposure without spot holdings. Coinbase also filed with the CFTC to launch nano XRP futures. This follows Bitnomial Exchange’s introduction of physically settled XRP futures. Meanwhile, Ripple’s $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road marks a strategic leap, integrating XRP Ledger into global prime brokerage and enabling cross-asset settlement. Ripple CTO David Schwartz called it a “defining moment,” while CEO Garlinghouse sees XRP gaining traction in traditional markets. Concurrently, Ripple and the SEC jointly requested a legal pause in the XRP case to finalize a landmark $50 million settlement, ending their long-standing case. One can only imagine the sighs of relief echoing through the corridors of power. 🙏

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2025-04-13 02:58